To think baby led weaning is a scam?

[pardon]

Isn't it normal to give dc's a bit of finger food?

BLW isn't new, just the stupid name. I've spoken to people from a lot of different countries (everytime I meet someone from a new country I ask how they wean!) and they have all given a description of BLW, the age they start would shock some people, especially those who think 6 months is late!

CMOTDibbler has some very old parenting manuals (going back to 18thC if I remember right?) and descriptions of BLW are given for weaning up until around WWII (when formula and puree changed the face of baby nutrition). Again the ages would shock people.

Scam... Interesting choice of words... Is it the DVD? £90something each IIRC. They're not aimed at parents, they're aimed at HCPs so that we can hopefully have some better support. The book isn't going to be that expensive (especially when you consider how much money people are giving to AK, Heinz, Hipp etc).

I've always been a bit "blah" about "baby led Weaning" (and I agree that its a 3 letter abbreviation for something that most people do anyway) because I was completely put off by this awful loud opinionated woman spouting forth at an NCT coffee about how it was the best thing in the whole wide world - and the ONLY reasons she could come up with for doing it was

• you don't have to puree stuff
• at company picnics and things, BLW-ing babies can be sitting eating pizza at 10 months with the rest of the children when other babies are having to eat puree

She couldn;t point to a single reason for doing it for the good of the baby rather than the parents.

So, I've simply not given a stuff about it since and automatically turn off when I hear people talking about it.

I think some of it is about what BLW is not,

-it is not distracting your child with the TV or a toy so you can spoon a bit more mush into them without them noticing,
-it is not "just one more mouthful" to finish the arbitrary pot or jar or how ever many ice cubes AK says your LO should have
-it is not complaining because you are trying to feed them with the spoon and all they want to do it grab the spoon and feed themselves

My DS1 was fed purees and mashed foods until he was 18 months. This is when his cleft palate was repaired. Trying to negotiate/chew finger foods when you have no roof to your mouth is not easy. That together with a child who, if left to his own devices, would have eaten nothing meant that BLW would have been a disaster. I'm only glad that 20 years ago it was not around. It would have just been something else to make me feel inadequate and guilty about. DS2 was BLW I suppose. He's now 17 and again I'd never heard of BLW if it was a term that existed then. He was just a baby who showed a very keen interest in his food and was quite happy to help it into his mouth himself if it meant it got there quicker!

Riven i don't know why attract looney's, but i have come to the conclusion someone always know's better about your situation then you do .

As for BLW/puree it depends on the child. DD1 was still on puree's at a year as she couldn't do lumpy food DD1 had a very strong gag reflex. But dd2 has been BLW from day one because she will not puree's and has never gagged on food. As other have said it doens't matter how you feed as lonas you get food in.

I had never even heard of it until now!!! Baby led weaning as a 'concept' is indeed a scam. What's conceptual about it?
Nine year's ago I went on holiday with my parents and babies and my Dad geve them a chip from his plate.
Is that it? Is that BLW? Was I ahead of my time? Quite excited now.

I wish I'd heard of it when I had dS1 and 2 life would have been so much easier, yes they were eating more, and earlier than DS3 did, and they definitely didn't drink as much milk as DS3 still does (approx 5 x 9oz bottles a day at 15 months!).

However, at 11 months he suddenly "got it" - and started eating stuff. Not vast quantities, but enough to make me relax a little.

2 nights ago I put fish fingers and potato on his highchair, I didn't give him a spoon or fork as IMO there was no need for him to have one.

he SCREAMED when I put him in the chair looking round towards the kitchen, so I grabbed his little plastic fork....he stopped crying, until DS2 and 1 sat down with their dinner and proper "silver" culterly - threw his plastic fork down on the tray and screamed again - so I got him a desert fork and he started happily eating again - using both forks one in each hand.

Now - both DS1 and 2 were being "fed" by someone until much later than that - DS1 only "Mastered" a knife last year (he'll be 8 next week), DS2 has started using one earlier this year - he'll be 5 in November -

Life is SO much easier (and cheaper - as I went through 4 blenders between DS1 and 2!!!)

Ds2 is getting fed bits of stuff when I remember - sometimes something I am eating or a mashed bit of what ds1 is having. What approach is that then?

beansprout - that's the "oh sh*t I've got another child to feed haven't I" method

I agree with Mrs Mattie
It's a label/movement for those that want it to be
For the rest of us it's just the way you do things

FAQ - that's the one!! File it under, "whatever is easiest on any given day.

"I think some of it is about what BLW is not,

-it is not distracting your child with the TV or a toy so you can spoon a bit more mush into them without them noticing,
-it is not "just one more mouthful" to finish the arbitrary pot or jar or how ever many ice cubes AK says your LO should have
-it is not complaining because you are trying to feed them with the spoon and all they want to do it grab the spoon and feed themselves "

I didn't do BLW (never got the chance) but didn't do what you say either, I hope you don't assume anyone who doesn't do BLW does

"blw does add a layer of mystery to something that should just be part of a continuum to help parents realise that they shoudl just chill out and try not to get their confidence from a book, iykwim?" Hurrah for Aitch...

that's about right

BLW is about eating exactly the same food in the family whether you are 36 or 6 months. End of - no special food just for babies/toddlers, no mashing, pureeing, freezing little things, carrying cool bags around and faffing around heating things up in cafes - just sharing real food, and letting the baby decide how much they want to eat and feed themselves.

Its certainly not (as I saw a mother doing in JL on Saturday) about shovelling puree into your baby whilst holding the back of their head to stop them looking around, scraping the puree that is on their face because they don't want to eat it and won't open their mouth back onto the spoon and making them eat that, and def not about stopping them feeding themselves as 'you'll make too much mess'

As Tinks mum says, I do have a collection of health and household advice books, and before 1944 ish, they all advise weaning (ie from breastmilk only) at no earlier than 9 months, and its quite common to advise delaying till 12 months or indeed starting then. They go on at length about the importance of chewing early on with giving bones with meat on, hard crusts with egg on to make them chew. The recipes for childrens food are rank though !

Riven - did you get my email BTW ?

Pardon, I don't think you know what 'scam' means - i.e. a confidence game or other fraudulent scheme, esp. for making a quick profit; swindle. I would say that AK was more like a scam for selling books and apparatus for pureeing when it's unnecessary!

Of course it sounds like a poncey term but it mostly means self-feeding, with an overriding philosophy that babies with their present developmental abilities should show what they are ready for, from not-feeding to feeding, to choosing types of foods and quantities.

I do think some natural-parenting types get a bit irritating with their holier-than-thou we-live-like-apes-do business but most people who do it are just doing it because it makes sense and it suits their lifestyle.

wouldn't prehistoric mum (and many animals) have given babies food chewed up by themselves? Puree'ing wasn't a post electrical invention you know and not likeing how a few mums feed their childrne doesn;t make puree the spawn of the devil!

I think kew has hit the nail on the head about what annoys people (me) about blwers (not all)it is the idea that people who don't do it are doing something that only a small minority of parents do anyway
many of my friends have not given finger foods until later
ds1 was not blwerd because weaning was earlier in those days
ds2 self feeds and always has
but when I weaned ds1 I didn't do any of these things:

''it is not distracting your child with the TV or a toy so you can spoon a bit more mush into them without them noticing,
-it is not "just one more mouthful" to finish the arbitrary pot or jar or how ever many ice cubes AK says your LO should have
-it is not complaining because you are trying to feed them with the spoon and all they want to do it grab the spoon and feed themselves "

from this post it appears that the assumption is people who do not blw are doing these things when I believe and my experience is most don't.

With Ds1 I was devoted to Annabel Karmel and he turned in to a massive fusspot. It was so difficult to get him off the bloody purees.

With DS2 I was obviously a lot lazier, and was not going to do the whole puree thing as they seemed to cause more problems than they were worth. I BLW but didn't realise there was a name for it. DS2 just ate what we ate and always fed himself.

I think the term BLW is a bit wanky and comes across as a bit cult like. I think parents need to go with the flow and do what they feel is best for their children.

However, I would say BLW is a lot cheaper than going down the puree route as you don't need to buy books, jars or special weaning spoons.

It's difficult to see how BLW can be considered a scam when the whole point of it is that you don't actually need to buy special kit.

I would however agree that its basically just a label for giving finger foods and going with the flow.

I've done a mixed approach with ds and he's (currently) a pretty good eater and indeed self feeder. We are ttc number 2 at the moment and I would do more of the baby led approach second time round. Less fannying around.

Scam

1. A ploy by a shyster to raise money.

2., A fraudulent business scheme. To scam means to victimize: deprive of by deceit; "He swindled me out of my inheritance"; "She defrauded the customers who trusted her"; "the cashier gypped me when he gave me too little change"

1. A confidence trick, confidence game, or con for short (also known as a scam) is an attempt to intentionally mislead a person or persons (known as the mark) usually with the goal of financial or other gain. The confidence trickster, con man, scam artist or con artist often works with an accomplice called the shill, who tries to encourage the mark by pretending to believe the trickster.

You think BLW isn't a scam because nobody is making money out of it? Interestingly, Gill Rapley is about to launch a book on BLW. Is she planning to be the new Annabel Karmel...?

FWIW, I'm trying a bit of puree and a bit of finger food with DS. Read some Annabel Karmel books, read a good one called Feed Me, and also read Aitch's website. There's me, getting splinters in my bum from the fence again...